John Lennon: Greatest interviews vol. 1

foreign [Music] they didn't call them groupies then I forgot what we used to call them something like slags you know slags so there's some word they had in England for it and yeah I mean one of the main reasons to get on stage is it uh it's a quickest way of making contact you know and you say news as well and then I could assume that when you say that going on the stage to perform music is one of the best ways of making contact that what you're saying is it's one of the best ways of making sexual contact well yes we're not looking to have a card game that's what it is I mean you know you don't go on stage and think that would make a nice card game most of the young women who uh who follow the rock groups then were very very young they were in their teens and I just wonder if ever there was a problem where an Irate father or mother might have called The Dressing Room on occasion and said hey what's going on down there okay and you probably said quiet there's a card game going on yeah sure no I mean in the very early days when we were playing dance halls there were just a certain type Chico group is now which would be available for functions at the end of the night and in general most kids will just go home with their boyfriend or whatever you know and there was always a small group that just went for any performer they didn't care whether it was a comedian or a manoet glass you know as if it was on stage right the guy who swept up after the elephants hey where are you going right and actually the people that work for rock groups usually get more action than the actual rock group right because I don't say right to me because well you can imagine it Tom they they auditioned right they get the cream of the crop if you want to see Elvis you got to see me foist gotcha as you said right why is what you're doing now not boring when that was because I can change musicians whenever I like and it tends to get into a format you know because we were together much longer than the public knew us you know it wasn't just from 64. I was 24 and 64 and I've been playing with Paul since I was 15. and it's very nice and and George about a year later or something so it's a long time we spent together in in all the most extraordinary circumstances from you know lousy rooms to Great Rooms and so it wasn't just the public just think oh yeah we're only together five years we've only got five million records you know but we were together a long long time and we just became stale musically it's but how are you not stale musically now aside from changing because I'm interacting with different musicians to me they're musicians they're not just you know it's not uh like to people they're all stars right it's it's like having Elton John and Elvis and a few people playing you know to me it isn't it's just musicians and to them it's the same so if you play with the same person all the time you get into a rut even if you play tennis with the same person it's boring it comes to a time when you know every move and you have to find somebody else to play with which is now video so it's in that way it's different but don't you know that in about 1988 there's going to be a group come out that is going to pick right back to the sound that you guys had in the uh since you're 15 years old and all kinds of critics and all kinds of writers are going to say wow look at this we've got this whole new sound that's reminiscent of The Beatles back in the 60s well they'll probably be playing garage blobs and Zack dungas right you know they'll have new instruments and although rock and roll was brand new when it came out and excited everybody it was sort of it had roots in blues and jazz so in that way they would have their roots in the 60s 70s and possibly further back but you can't say that rock and roll is like the 20s music although if you look for it you can find out where it came from before we get into your your immigration status and we'll bring Mr Wilds out at that time hooray and that is a controversy for you and for people who would want you to stay in this country you've been involved in some other mini controversies like the time that you were on the cover of the album without any clothes on and like the time that you and Yoko had everybody or invited people to come into the bedroom while you were there we held a bed in for peace a bed in for peace exactly why do you do those things what I and and I don't ask you that uh because I want to engender some flip response from you but what does that gain for you as John Lennon or what does it gain for the cause of Peace in the case of the bed and for you to do something like that when we got together decided that whatever we knew whatever we did was going to be in the papers you know whether it's Richard or Liz or so-and-so gets married or whatever people like us do is going to be in the papers so we decided to utilize the space we would occupy Anyway by getting married with a commercial for peace and also a theatrical event and the theatrical event we came up with which utilized the least energy with the maximum effect was to work from bed and what we virtually had was a seven day press conference in bed where the Press fought the first day they fought at the door to get in thinking there was something you know sexy going on like that was the word I was looking for and they found two people talking about peace you know and reporters always have five minutes with you or ten minutes with you we let them ask anything for as long as they wanted for seven days and all the time we just kept plugging peace and the story that came out was John and Yoko do bad in for peace and we were just promoting peace like you promote any product you know they promote War join the Marines join this we promote in peace uh the naked album cover was less um General than that meaning they didn't have we didn't have that was the one of the first things we did we thought you know we felt like two virgins that's what the album was called because we were in love just met and we were trying to make something and we thought to show everything people always looking at people like me trying to see some secret or what do they do what do they do you know do they go to the bathroom do they eat do you I do quite a lot you know and that we I just we just said here you know and that was in 1968 and all hell broke loose but now they're jumping around naked all over the place right yes they are as a matter of fact right so we were just to ahead of our time among other things watching this again proves how dumb people look when their hair is too long and they wore those leisure suits awful uh we'll get back online and recorded in April of 1975 after these announcements for the NBC television stations Coast to Coast because I'd like to live in the land of the free Tom and also if it was up to Joe Doe on the street he either doesn't care about it or would be glad to have an old Beetle living here you know you know if I get in the cab with a cab driver there's nothing to do with music or anything he'll ask me how you doing I hope you can stay so in on your average citizen either doesn't care or wouldn't mind me staying here I like to be here because this is where the music came from this is what influenced my whole life and got me where I am today as it were and I I love the place I'd like to be here I've got a lot of friends here and this is where I want to be you know Statue of Liberty welcome I even brought my own cash Brooklyn Bridge want to buy it no you're the ones that buy our bridges being an egomaniac means I believe in what I do on my art or my music in that respect you can call me that you know and I believe in what I do and I'll say it you know and otherwise this is pretty much me you know apart from being on TV well you're one of the nicest egomaniacs I've ever met well so you Thomas

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Length: 8min 50sec (530 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 30 2022